September 2015Eliz McArdle Simon Ward

Youth work Resilience Well-being

Who this guide is for?

This guide is for adults who are concerned withsupporting and building flourishing young people.Workers, volunteers, teachers, classroom assistants,play workers, youth workers, health professionals,counsellors, parents and adults will gain newstrategies and new thinking skills which they can usewith young people across a range of settings.

Why now?

For too long, the emphasis for mental health policy inNorthern Ireland has leaned towards medicalresponses to mental illness, rather than buildingmental health. International evidence suggests that,in the long run, this neither promises to be the beststrategy for the improvement of young people’smental health, nor is this an cost-effective use ofresources. Preventative and early intervention workhave yielded the best results and outcomes for youngpeople, whilst also providing best value for money.

Why is it useful?

This guide will lead to more effective methods inbuilding young people’s mental health for less cost.The use of the LIFEMAPS approach by workers andvolunteers working with young people, is easilyadopted but productive for building the resilience andmental well-being of young people.

Where has it come from?

This guide has emerged from the Right Here project,a five year mental health pilot project for 16-25 yearolds, across four locations – Fermanagh, Sheffield,Newham and Brighton and Hove funded by apartnership of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and theMental Health Foundation. Right Here Fermanaghwas a nine organisation strong partnership managedby YouthAction Northern Ireland. (See appendix 1 forinformation on Right Here).

LearningIntrinsic motivationFlowEmotionMindfulAccomplishmentPurpose Social connections

Lifemaps...the youth work journey to build mental health

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Table of Contents

Who this guide is for? 1

Why now? 1

Why is it useful? 1Where has it come from? 1

Introduction and the purpose of this guide 3

Context 3

Young people and mental health 3

Young and under pressure. 3

Young men and young women. 3

School life and mental health. 4

Young and gifted. 4

Methods to build young people’s mental health 4

What is youth work? 4

What is positive psychology? 5

Skills for all those working with young people 5

LIFEMAPS 6About LIFEMAPS 6

L is for LEARNING 6

LEARNING - What the research tells us. 7

Mental Health can be learned. 7

New approaches to learning can improve mental health. 7

Learning resilient thoughts, behaviours and actions. 7

Optimistic thinking can encourage learning. 8

LEARNING – Putting it into practice. 8

I is for INTRINSIC MOTIVATION 9

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION – what the research tells us. 9

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION – putting it into practice. 10

F is for FLOW 10

FLOW – what the research tells us. 10

Flow can lead to mastery action and mastery thinking. 11

FLOW – putting it into practice. 11

E is for EMOTION 12

EMOTION – what the research tells us. 12

EMOTION- putting it into practice. 13

M is for MINDFUL 14

MINDFUL – what the research tells us. 14

MINDFUL – putting it into practice. 15

A is for ACCCOMPLISHMENT 16

ACCOMPLISHMENT – what the research tells us. 16

Performance goals and a fixed mindset. 16

Learning goals and a growth mindset. 17

ACCOMPLISHMENT – putting it into practice. 17

P is for PURPOSE 17

PURPOSE – what the research tells us. 17

Signature strengths and a sense of purpose. 18

PURPOSE - putting it into practice. 18

S is for SOCIAL CONNECTIONS 19

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS – what the research tells us. 19

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS – putting it into practice. 20

Signposts for LIFEMAPS 21

References 22

APPENDIX 1 - RIGHT HERE FERMANAGH 24

LIFEMAPS MODEL 24

Other resources. 24

APPENDIX 2– MORE OF WHAT THE RESEARCH TELLS US. 25

Mental Health can be learned. 25

New approaches to learning can improve mental health. 25

Learning resilient thoughts, behaviours and actions. 25

Optimistic thinking can encourage learning. 25

Intrinsic motivation. 26

Flow helps us ‘feel good’ and ‘do well’. 26

Growth mind-sets encourage flow. 26

Positive emotions and negative emotions. 27

Positive emotions and physical well-being. 27

Savouring. 28

Goals. 28

Intrinsic vs extrinsic goals. 28

Approach vs avoidant goals. 28

Hope. 29

Finding signature strengths. 29

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Introduction and the purpose ofthis guide

Context

Specific challenges exist for the mental health of asociety in conflict (or emerging from conflict), such asNorthern Ireland. Data compared across the UK,showed that ‘in Northern Ireland, mental health needsare 25% higher than the UK average linked to highlevels of deprivation and the impact of the troubles’(DHSSPS, 2004). These crucial environmental factorshave been echoed consistently in regional researchinto the impact of violent conflict on the mentalhealth and suicide rates of the population (Tomlinson,2007; O’Neill et al, 2014). O’Neill et al (2014) recordthat of almost 30% of the population who suffermental health problems, nearly half of those aredirectly related to the Troubles. The study goes furtherto emphasise how the trauma transmits acrossgenerations, with ‘mental health issues and suicidalbehaviour likely to be transmitted to futuregenerations’ (ibid, 2014).

Research evidence from Northern Ireland shows thataround 20% of young people suffer from a mentalillness at any one time (Shubotz, 2010). Females aremore likely to be affected by mental health problemsthan males (ibid). However, suicide rates havestubbornly persisted and male suicides have steadilyincreased over the past two decades (DHSSPS, 2006).

Much of the mental health policy has been dominatedby three prominent policy drivers - The BamfordReview of Mental Health and Learning Disability(2007), Promoting Mental Health Strategy and ActionPlan (2003-2008) and the ‘Protect Life’ SuicidePrevention Strategy and Action Plan (2006-2011). TheBamford Review continues to dominate the landscapefor those who have mental illnesses. The other twostrategies have seen extensions to their lifespans, withnew action plans being developed and implemented,to date.

The current policy and practice responses to emergingmental health problems are having a limited impacton young people’s lives, costing pain in human termsand costing the NHS in financial terms (Shubotz andMcArdle, 2014). More needs to be done and this guideoffers one way forward in building young people’smental health.

Young people and mentalhealth

Young and under pressure.

Young people’s lives are complex and pressurised.Whilst young people are seen as the generation that‘never had it so good’, this view doesn’t capture thehigh levels of apathy, disaffection and disjunctureamong young generations. Current research revealshigh levels of unhappiness and depression amongstyoung people, with 1 in 10 young people feelingunable to cope with everyday living (The Princes Trust,2013). Furthermore, the Nuffield Foundation (2013)found that the number of young people aged 15-16who have depression had doubled from the 1980s tothe 2000s.

There are growing pressures from external sourcesthrough life in a digital world of instantcommunication, with unrealistic expectations arisingfrom comparisons with wide demographics throughthis on-line life (Hulme, 2009). Young people expresstheir inability to deal with the complexities ofeveryday living and particularly managing to face andlearn through failure. Increasingly social perfectionismoffers persistent stress on young lives. The problemsfor youth are not material in the same way as forprevious generations (although poverty persists), yetthe peer, social and psychological pressures areheightened for this generation.

Young men and young women.

The lives of young women are different to those ofyoung men, with deeply rooted gender influences andmessages for young men and young women frombirth onwards. Different lifestyles and interests arepursued following the different influences on youngmen or young women. Emotions are expresseddifferently and perceptions of the world can varygreatly. The talents of young women and young menare often pursued along stereotypical lines, withyoung women and young men encouraged to developtraditional strengths and traditional skills. Leisurepursuits are often gendered from early childhood, withinfluences of fashion, school, music and media felt ateach stage of development.

The traditional messages and expectations of howyoung men should behave and how young womenshould behave can pour stress onto young people.Many of the anxieties and strains that weigh heavily

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upon young men are different to those mostprominent for young women. Young men face issuesof masculinity that have mental health impacts –living up to macho actions; not talking about theirfeelings; a deep aversion to asking for help; sense ofloss in terms of identity and the embarrassment theyface if they ‘look after themselves’ in anything otherthan physique. Young women face fear ofembarrassment tied up with fitting in to expectations– not wanting to say the wrong thing, talk to the‘geek’, do the wrong thing or look wrong. They obsessover how to act in mixed company and amongst othergirls. They obsess over self-image – caught betweenbeing like others and being individual. They strugglewith the mixed messages from media about sexualand relationship expectations of young women andyoung men. All of these can lead to self-loathing andhating behaviours which undercuts the mental healthof young women.

The pursuit of an ‘acceptable’ identity can pre-occupymany young men and young women and causemental health problems. However, when youngpeople receive messages that challenge thestereotype, these provide an alternative way of beingfor young people, relieving some of the societalexpectations and pressures.

School life and mental health.

School occupies a great deal of time and head-spacefor young people, whether going well or going badly.School is the place of encouragement (when youngpeople feel good about their ability, achievement,peers and future); but equally can be a source ofdiscouragement and distress (when young people feelout-of-their-depth, unhappy about interactions withstaff and peers, or not achieving as they would like).The impact is very often that young men and youngwomen feel unable to cope with the daily weight thatthese feelings bear down. These stressors are wellrecognised by teachers as de-motivators in academicand social life for those who feel these most severely.

Positive interventions in the school setting can havedeeply felt positive changes for young people. TheLIFEMAPS approach can be adopted to improve thewell-being of the whole school community (teachers,peers and parents).

Young and gifted.

With all the pressures of life for young people, theability to navigate through is a talent and skill that

can be nurtured. Young people can use creativity, wilyways and optimism to approach complex and difficultsituations. The LIFEMAPS model is an assets-basedapproach that builds on the strengths that youngpeople have and creates new perspective andbehaviours that foster good mental health activities.

Methods to build youngpeople’s mental health

What is youth work?

Youth work helps young people to discover thingsabout themselves, others and the world around them.A non-formal approach is used to build upon the skillsand knowledge young people already own, with a viewto them learning ways to enjoy and improve their ownlives. Youth work uses games, exercises, interactions,conversations and activities as ways to excite andignite the talents and motivations of young people.Exploration and liveliness are characteristic of youthwork and appeal to some young people who findformal settings overly-restrictive.

The strength of youth work is not just in working todevelop the skills of a single individual, withoutattention to the small and large world around them.Youth work values both the individual and thecommunity. This means that young people can deriveboth personal and community benefits - reducing anindividual’s or community’s alienation, promoting asense of belonging, building wider purpose andmeaning. It is this cross fertilisation of disciplineswhich promotes a blend of healthy people and healthycommunities.

Some key concepts under-pinning youth work are…..

- Young people are viewed as assets, not problems.

- Young people are valued as young people, notmerely for the future populations they maybecome.

- Young people are capable of making decisions ontheir own lives and the lives of others.

- Young people are best understood throughlistening to them and understanding their lives.

- Young people are best nurtured when you begin attheir starting point.

- Learning is memorable when it is fun, enjoyableand salient for young people.

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These approaches can be embraced across theprofessions and weaved into other fields such asteaching, health and social care, to improve outcomesfor young people.

What is positive psychology?

The field of positive psychology is best described as:

‘Psychology is not just the study of weakness anddamage; it is also the study of strength and virtue.Treatment is not just fixing what is broken, it isnurturing what is best within ourselves.’(Seligman, 1998)

Positive psychology is a scientific, evidence-baseddiscipline. It is founded on the belief that people wantto lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivatewhat is best within them and to enhance theexperience of being alive. Happiness and mental well-being are the desired outcomes of positivepsychology. Whilst the word ‘happiness’ can be off-putting to some, there is a growing understandingthat feeling good and doing well in life go hand-in-hand. Research and treatment in the realm of mentalhealth has traditionally had a focus on ‘what is wrongwith people?’; Positive psychology, however asks thequestion ‘What is going right with people and whatcan be built upon?’

Corey Keyes (2002) has tackled a commonmisconception about mental health – that idea thatmental health is mental illness, with the commonlyheld belief that only those with mental healthproblems need to think about their mental health.Keyes work separates mental illness from mentalhealth as two parallel continuums. Within this, peoplewith complete mental health are described as‘flourishing’ in life with high levels of well-being andliving within an optimal range of human functioning.Research has suggested that approximately 20% ofthe population can be classified as flourishing (Keyes,2007; Huppert and So, 2009) while 55% are inmoderate mental health, with 15% being understoodas ‘languishing’. This is a state in which people aredescribed as neither mentally ill nor mentally healthybut rather not functioning well; psychologically,socially or emotionally. To be flourishing then is to befilled with positive emotion and doing wellpsychologically and socially. People with incompletemental health are languishing in life with low well-being. There is the potential for much movementbetween states, either upwards or downwards.

The aim of any work with young people aroundmental health should, therefore, ensure that a focus ofprogrammes and interventions is around helping themflourish, not simply trying to stop them feeling bad orthe prevention of mental illness. This involves workingwith an individual’s cognitive skills set and emotionalrange; but have further goals to create connections tocommunities and a sense that you have something tocontribute to the world – the skills of ‘a meaningfullife’ (Seligman, 2006).

Skills for all those working with young people.

Many people work with young people across theiryoung lifespan. Those who have successes with youngpeople have a set of skills and approaches that areworthy of note and some attention. The particularsuccess for a young person’s mental health is often thecreation of a positive adult-young person relationshipthat offers space for them to learn and grow:

‘…to build a more effective relationship in which athirst for aspiration and achievement will benurtured’. (Nicholls, 2012)

When young people were asked to identify elementsof positive relationships which they had with adults,their responses included:

‘education and challenge... but not teaching...’

‘open styles of communication...’

‘...personal support...’

‘...and empowering experiences’

‘...leading to two-way personal relationships’.

(Davies & Merton, 2010)

These comments were about specific relationshipswith youth workers, but they identify universal skillsfound in experienced and effective health and socialcare professionals, teachers and parents who can buildflourishing relationships.

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LIFEMAPSAbout LIFEMAPS

LIFEMAPS is a new framework which demonstrateshow youth work approaches can build the mentalhealth of young people. This has been developed bySimon Ward, educational psychologist, in collaborationwith Eliz McArdle, YouthAction Northern Ireland, toillustrate how developmental youth work approachesare effective in building mental health. This model hasbeen developed to work across the mental healthcontinuum; ranging from work with young people whohave identified diagnosed mental illnesses to thosewith moderate mental health and those needing toboost existing flourishing behaviours. This work hasemerged from the Right Here Fermanagh project(www.right-here.org). See appendix 1.

LIFEMAPS is used as an acronym for 8 interlinkedconcepts which describe a full approach to developingyoung people’s mental health. The underpinningprinciple of LIFEMAPS is that positive mental health isnot uncovered, is not a discovery, but is built throughaction, skills and attitudes, fostered throughrelationships.

L is for LEARNING

Mental health is not a given or a fixed state. There arelarge parts of mental health that are under ourcontrol. There are different environments thatpromote positive mental health and different waysthat people can make choices to improve their healthand well-being regardless of circumstances. Key skillscan be learnt, attitudes can be enhanced, which leadto flourishing. Of course, circumstances make adifference – recession and poverty are critical factors

L is forlearning

I is forIntrinsicMotivationS is for Social

Connections

M is forMindfulness

F is forFlowP is for

Purpose

A is for Accomplishments

Eis forEmotions

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in mental health, as do psychological, social andemotional capacity. As workers, we can have a directimpact on these things, although we still acknowledgethe impact of those heavily entrenched, structuralfactors in people’s lives.

LEARNING –What the research tells us.

Mental Health can be learned.

Recent scientific evidence builds on this idea thatmental health is somewhat within our control. Takinginto account the results of many studies, positivepsychologists have created a “happiness formula”,identifying the three categories that make up ourwell-being - H=S+C+V

H = Your enduring level of happiness.

S = Your genetic set point. This is determined byyour genes, remains relatively stablethroughout your life and returns to its originallevel soon after the majority of significant lifeevents. This accounts for about 50%.

C = The circumstances of your life. These are boththings you can change and things you can’t,including your environment, your health, age etc.This accounts for about 10% of our well-being.

V = Aspects which are under our voluntary controland account for around 40% of our well-beingincluding our attitudes, intentional andeffortful activities.

(Seligman, 2002)

Like physical fitness, you can’t just read a book aboutmental health and expect your well-being to beboosted. The world of the self-help book hasconvinced a full generation of readers that they knowexactly what to do to improve their well-being; butputting these into practice is different to knowingwhat needs to be done. To develop new skills,attitudes and behaviours for good mental health willrequire active participation and practice.

New approaches to learning can improve mentalhealth.

Bringing up children has changed vastly within ageneration. Safety, protection and encouragement ofchildren and young people have replaced somecommon-place practices of smacking, punishment andobedience. Children were historically ‘seen and not

heard’ with a teaching and parenting motto that ‘whatwon’t kill you will make you stronger’. The shift inemphasis away from this is understandable as abacklash to the widespread panic from sexual andphysical abuse scandals by adults on children. Thekickback of these ‘new’ approaches to children andyoung people is that children and young people are‘bubble-wrapped’ with fewer skills to face struggle orchallenge. Bandura (1977) states:

‘If people experience only easy successes theycome to expect quick results and are easilydiscouraged by failure. A resilient sense of efficacyrequires experience in overcoming obstaclesthrough perseverant effort. Some setbacks anddifficulties in human pursuits serve a usefulpurpose in teaching that success usually requiressustained effort. After people become convincedthey have what it takes to succeed, they perseverein the face of adversity and quickly rebound fromsetbacks. By sticking it out through tough times,they emerge stronger from adversity.’

We can be overly keen to protect young people fromthe frustration that comes with challenges. Feelings ofmastery don’t develop from achieving easy tasks, butby facing challenging ones. When we encouragepersistence and a need to stick with somethingchallenging (rather than focusing on the youngperson’s feelings in a frustrating moment), they havethe chance to develop their self–efficacy (their senseof belief in their own power to achieve).

Recent years have seen an emphasis on self-esteem asopposed to self–efficacy. Young people have beenpraised for the accomplishment of easy tasks andfailure seen as something to be avoided at all costs.Unfortunately, this has prevented young people frombeing able to generate the feelings of self-efficacythat come with the struggle and the sense of masterythat the achievement gives them.

Learning resilient thoughts, behaviours and actions.

40 -50 years ago, psychologists studying childrengrowing up in high risk environments realised that aproportion of the young people developed welldespite the adversity they faced in life. This capacitywas termed ‘resilience’ and researchers began toinvestigate the factors and processes that seemed tobe involved in its development.

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Resilience is not a trait that people either have ordon’t have. It involves behaviours, thoughts andactions that can be learned and developed by anyone.Resilience is defined as:

‘The human capacity to face, overcome andultimately be strengthened and even transformedby life’s adversities and challenges. … A complexrelationship of psychological inner strengths andenvironmental social supports throughout aperson’s life.’

(Masten, 2001)

Early research focussed on those children deemed tobe living in high risk environments. Recent studieshave indicated that growing up in the modern worldputs increasing psychological demands on our childrenwho are virtually all facing stress and pressure.Contemporary resilience theory has moved on toencompass all rather than just those ‘at risk.’

Optimistic thinking can encourage learning.

Peterson (2006) describes optimism as similar toVelcro in that it is attached to all the ingredientswhich promote well-being. His research has foundmany advantages of adopting an optimistic viewpoint:

• Optimists adapt better to negative events.

• Optimism is conducive to problem-focusedcoping, using humour, making plans, positivereframing, (putting the situation in the bestpossible light) and, when the situation isuncontrollable, accepting the situation’s reality.

• Optimists exert more continuous effort and tendnot to give up.

• Optimists report more health promotingbehaviour (e.g. healthy diet, regular medicalcheck-ups) and enjoy better physical health thanpessimists.

• Optimists seem to be more productive.

• Optimists are more popular than pessimists withstronger social ties.

(Peterson, 2006)

Although there may well be a genetically inheritedcomponent to optimism and early childhoodexperiences certainly shape optimistic or pessimisticviewpoint, we can use several strategies to counterpessimism. As Reivich suggests:

‘I want to stress that these are thinking styles, theseare not personality traits and because they arethinking styles, they are changeable.’

(Reivich, 2006)

Optimistic and pessimistic thinking styles can impacton our approach to learning. With a pessimisticthinking style we can view failure as my own fault andsomething which is permanent and persistent.Therefore, our tendency is not to try again or try tolearn. A more likely response is to walk away feelinglike a failure. With optimistic thinking, an alternativeexplanation for failure can be found – related to thingsthat can be changed such as more practice or trying adifferent approach. Even if an optimistic explanation isnot appropriate, then it is worth putting the situationin perspective, identifying whether circumstances arereally as catastrophic as initially thought.

LEARNING – Putting it into practice.

Activities and strategies can be put into place tocreate positive and long lasting changes in levels ofwell-being.

ACTIVITIES THAT BUILD SKILLS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Programme activities, games and opportunities thatmatch and stretch the skills’ levels of young people.This will encourage them to practice some existingskills and face challenges in trying to go a bit further.Whether football, arts and crafts or groupwork, useexercises that will tax the thinking and physical skillsto the next level. This promotes challenge withstruggle, offering activities that are achievable butstretching. This builds a sense of feeling good anddoing well.

APPROACHING FAILURE AND DISAPPOINTMENT

Disappointment is a fact of life for everybody. Ifworkers can use moments of failure ordisappointment as a learning point, young people canreflect rather than wallow, think about practicing toimprove, and develop persistence and tenacity.Sometimes disappointment can bring very strongemotions. Rather than shutting down these emotions,this can be a chance to talk through why a youngperson feels the disappointment so deeply and canwork through some deeply-held beliefs aboutthemselves or their value in the world. These are coremental health skills.

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BUILDING AND ENCOURAGING SUPPORTNETWORKS

Having a strong support network helps facedisappointment, failure and success. Having somebodyto share good and bad moments takes the sting out ofpain and adds to the joy. Workers can programmeactivities that build new alliances between youngpeople in organising teams for activities and in pairingup young people informally or formally through peermentoring. Programmed group activities or exerciseswill promote contact between young people whomight not normally be together. Friendships andsupport can develop, unexpectedly.

BUILDING RESILIENCE

Resilience-building is a central idea in the LIFEMAPSmodel. Activities can be shaped that will build thecomposite skills of resilience. This can includeexposure to challenging situations, which provideopportunities to develop problem solving skills andbuild strong emotional coping skills. Resilience is alsostrengthened through having a strong social network.

• Team-building activities build problem-solvingskills. Playing Pictionary, raft-building, getting yourteam from A to B with only two planks and fourpieces of rope all encourage young people to listenand think through what seems at first like avirtually impossible task.

• Competitions build skills, encourage people tostretch themselves and recognise effort and ability.Quizzes, basketball tournaments, dodge-ball, Wii-tennis or writing competitions.

• Volunteering opportunities build a sense ofpurpose and future mindedness, from communitycar-wash to fund-raising activities; from traineeleadership training to peer mentoring, youngpeople will respond well to feeling that they havesomething to offer to others in this world.

• Working with young people on a performance witha deadline can set high expectations with highlevels of support available, but with a realisticsense that is can be achieved, working on a play,scene, presentation evening, musical, a junk art orfashion show. The setting and communication ofhigh expectations by supportive others.

PRACTICE OPTIMISM AS A WORKER

Building an optimistic style amongst workers is thefirst step to promoting an optimistic style to youngpeople. Try to notice when things are going wellrather than badly. When things go wrong, workers canlook at ‘the evidence’ in greater detail to explain the‘failure’. This often leads to a discovery that thefailure might be due to the actions of others, can beimproved with practice and is not always like this. It isonly if we practice these skills in our own lives andwork that we can pass them on with confidence.

PROMOTE OPTIMISM AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

If young people continually blame themselves forfailure and think that failure is permanent anddisastrous, workers can encourage young people tolook at ‘the evidence’ in greater detail. For workers,‘disputation’ or challenging the evidence is a key toolin challenging pessimistic explanations of when thingsgoing wrong. This new language offers the youngperson a way of re-framing their ability andcontributions in the world in a more optimistic style.

I is for INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION – what the research tells us.

Finding the hook that motivates a young person is likethe holy grail for many workers – you know it existsbut seems impossible to uncover. A range of methodsare used to motivate young people across differentsettings with little thought to the chances of success.Sanctions and punishments are obvious ones, used byteachers and parents often in interactions from earlyages, to encourage everything from eating to potty-training; from school attendance, to discipline tohomework. ‘Carrots’ and rewards also form part of therepertoire of ‘teaching’ children and young people,offering treats and praise for doing and behaving well.The latter and the former fall into the category ofextrinsic motivation, whereby the motivation is byexternal factors - when we do an activity to satisfysomething outside ourselves, not just for the fun of it.We feel driven by outside influences, behaving in wayseither to obtain a reward or to avoid punishment.Research (Ryan & Deci, 2000) has shown that extrinsicmotivation works on a limited basis, with somebehaviours improving or showing themselves for ashort time, while the reward or punishment is new;but very quickly return to the default position, withmotivation slumping quickly.

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Watch a young person gaming to understand whatintrinsic motivation is. They might show excitement,concentration, persistence, problem-solving skills andtenacity in ways that are not evident in another arena.When we are intrinsically motivated, we do somethingfor the sake of it, simply out of enjoyment or interest.Compared with people who are extrinsicallymotivated, those who are intrinsically motivated showmore interest, excitement and confidence about thetasks they are intrinsically motivated to do. They alsoshow enhanced performance, persistence andcreativity in the tasks and more generally reporthigher subjective well-being.

Motivation is fragile and can be strengthened orweakened rapidly (ibid, 2000). An individual’s intrinsicmotivation is strengthened by offering them choicesabout how they approach or complete tasks. If we arerelatively free to choose our actions, then it is easierfor us to appreciate the reasons for doing something.If we feel forced or coerced, it is harder for us tointernalise the motivation. So intrinsic motivation isweakened by punishment, threats of punishment andby imposing goals, directives and deadlines. Thesurprising finding is that intrinsic motivation is alsoweakened by giving people rewards for completinginteresting tasks, particularly if these rewards areperceived as controlling.

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION – putting it into practice.

Workers can seek out and nurture intrinsic motivationwhere it does not exist, and keep it alive where it does.

OFFER CHOICES

Offering real choices builds a sense of autonomyamong young people. This is particularly importantfor young people who live in home environments thatare very controlled and controlling. Within mostsettings with young people, there are ways that choiceis maximised – e.g. the development of a ‘membersforum’ on how a club is run, choice of activities to berun throughout a community centre, choice withingames to play for younger children. Where choice islimited, the discussion or negotiation that involvesadults and young people still serves to build this senseof autonomy and growing independence.

PURSUE NEW OPPORTUNITIES

This is done through presenting opportunities to trynew things that might capture the motivation of

some. Usually this is done through ‘away’opportunities – residentials using outdoor pursuits;camping; going to see a musical or a play; visits.However, new opportunities come with newapproaches, which might be about doing things thatchallenging stereotypes – e.g. ‘Man with a pan’cooking for boys and young men; fishing project forgirls and young women.

NOTICE INTERESTS AND ENGAGEMENT

For a young person, finding something that you aregood at can act as a strong hook for their intrinsicmotivation to grow. This can be the driving forcebehind practicing a new skill or activity. But it mighttake the impetus of a worker to start the ball rolling.A worker might notice a singing voice or leadershipskills or comic timing or physical strength. Theseinsights can be used for a young person to take upboxing or singing, and grow their intrinsic motivationthrough the encouragement of an adult supporter.

PRAISE AND ENCOURAGE WHERE EFFORT IS

As stated above, motivation is fragile, but can be givena boost by words that praise the effort. Encourage theyoung person to keep practicing and give feedbackthat is true, identifying ways that their effort can bebest placed and how they can build on strengths.Encourage persistence through small rewards.Acknowledge personal milestones through private andpublic acknowledgements.

F is for FLOW

‘Flow’ is a term coined by Csikszentmihalyi (1992) as aresult of studies he has undertaken for over 30 yearson what gives people enjoyment.

FLOW – what the research tells us.

‘Flow' happens when we become so absorbed in anactivity that we lose ourselves and all sense of time(Csikszentmihalyi, 1992). There is no way to tellwhich activities will induce flow as it is different fromperson to person (one man’s meat is another man’spoison), with one person reading a book for hourswhile another is bored within 15 minutes. This pointsto a key aspect of flow - that it is intrinsicallymotivating. We are hooked in through our interest andskill in the activity, we do the activity for its own sakeand the reward is in the challenge and the sense ofself-improvement.

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A wide range of activities can induce ‘flow”. It cancome from gardening, designing software, working outa mathematical problem, playing a sport or painting.Commonly it is something that we find challenging.Too little challenge and too much skill leads toboredom; too much challenge and not enough skillleads to anxiety. Flow occurs when we get the balancejust right so that the level of challenge is just on theedge of our skills level. Many people experience floweasily in competitive sports where challenge andfeedback are central to the activity. If the skills of theplayers are not matched – one is a novice footballerand the other plays competitively for a regional team- then neither is likely to experience flow. For one ofthem there is a lack of challenge and for the other it istoo difficult, hence the full absorption in the activitythat is needed to achieve flow, is missing.

During the actual process of ‘flow’ there is an absence ofemotions, but afterwards, we experience a surge ofpositive emotions. Perhaps because of this stream ofpositive emotions, ‘flow’ encourages us to persist withchallenging tasks, thereby developing skills and leading topersonal growth. Flow activities contribute substantiallyto our feelings of happiness and well-being. But it alsorequires effort, practice and a risk of failure.

Modern society is less about putting in effort andmore about finding short cuts. Feeling good is nodifferent – we do things to make us feel good withminimum input on our part: TV, fast food, realityshows, alcohol or drugs. Indeed, many of the activitiesthat we choose to pursue in our leisure time arepassive (e.g. watching TV) and lead to an absence offlow. These activities undermine good mental health.

Flow can lead to mastery action and masterythinking.

Flow activities can help us feel good and encourage usto develop skills to improve our performance andactivity. This practice can lead to ‘mastery action’,where you take control of a task and your input canaffect the result. For a young child, catching the ballcan be mastered by trying over and over, withadjustments each time until they have got it. But theimpact on mental health is that mastery action canprompt mastery thinking. So, succeeding atsomething, overcoming an obstacle or achieving agoal can all lead to a boost in self-belief. So nailing theskills and knowledge, can boost self-confidence forthis task and to face other tasks. This change inpersonal narrative encourages further engagement,perseverance and goal striving.

The achievement of mastery action is not always apainless process, but can involve overcoming difficultyand obstacles. As Seligman et al suggests:

‘In order for your child to experience mastery, it isnecessary for him to fail, to feel bad and to tryagain repeatedly until success occurs. None of thesesteps can be circumvented. Failure and feeling badare necessary building blocks for ultimate successand feeling good.’

(Seligman et al, 1995)

We can place too much emphasis on avoidingnegative emotions, which are there for a reason: toinform us that something in our world needs changingand to galvanise us into action.

FLOW – putting it into practice.

SET UP FLOW ACTIVITIES

Setting up flow activities and moments with youngpeople can be game-changers. Cliff jumping,badminton, obstacle courses, projects, public speaking,drama, creative writing or an animation project can alllead to flow moments for different young people. Thismight be the first time they discover they are good atsomething. The flow activity can help to change theirbeliefs, attitudes and behaviours. The impact is feltbeyond the specific activity and help them to believethat they can develop and succeed in other aspects oflife and in wider society.

REFLECT ON FLOW ACTIVIITIES

Workers can do mental health programmes withoutever mentioning mental health. Reflect with youngpeople on the experiences and emotions that wereinvolved in the ‘flow’ activities. In discussion, identifywith the young people what positive emotions theyfelt, what sensations they experienced, what theyfound difficult or uncomfortable in the activity. Inreflecting on the experience, they can identify whichaspects they would or wouldn’t repeat. The ultimateoutcome is in being able to identify what activities ayoung person might do on their own to make themfeel good when they are in a slump.

A SENSE OF FUN, HUMOUR AND ADVENTURE

In taking on any new activity, young people can feel asense of trepidation, fear and excitement. Coupledwith self-consciousness of taking on a new activitywith other people watching, these can be paralysing.

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response from workers – of being contained, to avoidit spreading and becoming ‘unmanageable’. Responsessuch as these may be the result of managing largergroups, with discipline and maintaining control as thekey driver, but this doesn’t involve a deeperunderstanding of the role of emotions in the mentalhealth of young people. The messages this gives toyoung people about expressing emotions can havelong term damaging impacts, reinforcing the idea thatstrong emotions are to be supressed. A moreconsidered approach is needed to how workersrespond rather than react to emotions expressed byyoung people.

EMOTION – what the research tells us.

Positive emotions and negative emotions are notopposite. ‘Positive’ and ‘negative’ is not a reference tothem being either ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but whether it ishealthy for us to experience these. Positive emotionsinclude interest, contentment, pride, love and zest.Negative emotions incude greed, anxiety, envy anddestructiveness. But anger, for example, can be ahealthy emotion if it spurs us on to stand up foryourself or challenge some injustice. It is toosimplistic to assume that emotions, such asfrustration, that make us feel bad are ultimatelyharmful.

Negative emotions are an important fact of life. Atimportant moments they serve to remind people thatthey have faced a loss; a sadness; a regret or been hurtby someone. It is important to recognize theimportance of negative emotions (rather than pretendthey don't exist or bottle them up) and to learn howthey are triggered and how to manage them.Negative emotions, like anxiety and anger evokespecific behavioural responses which are bestunderstood in evolutionary terms. A clear example ofthis is the fight, flight, freeze response, with fearleading to an action tendency to run and escape,whilst anger leads to an action tendency to fight.However, negative emotions seem to narrow behavior,by focusing energy on survival rather than flourishing.

Positive emotions have a greater impact than justmaking us feel good. The snowball effect of positiveemotions spreads through our personal, social andemotional life. Work and study performance isenhanced when we feel good; physically our health isboosted; our relationships are strengthened; our viewof the world is enhanced; we take more risks withgreater certainty and our creativity can be enriched,simply by virtue of experiencing positive emotions. It

Workers can cut through some of this anxiety with asense of humour and a sense of adventure. Workersgoing first on new activities can give confidence toyoung people. Even if the worker does badly in theactivity, the ability to laugh it off and enjoy theexperience will be noticed by young people. Activitiessuch as hide-and-seek or obstacle courses are flowactivities that can be fun, but are often written off asbeing too childish. These activities are valuable asthey remind us of times when we were less self-conscious and able to have free-for-all fun. Workerscan use their own sense of fun and adventure (try itand see) to sell the idea of these activities to youngpeople.

BUILD FLOW ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHOARE OVER-CRITICAL OF SELF

A number of mental health difficulties arecharacterized by an inward focus, over thinking andexcessive rumination, which is not connected to arealistic perspective. Workers can provide a range ofactivities to increase full engagement. These canencourage an outward focus of attention and at thevery least, can provide a distraction from innerturmoil. Young women can feel intenseembarrassment and self-consciousness about takingpart in activities where they might be seen by others.It can be a challenge to engage them in flow activitiesbecause of this self-consciousness getting in the wayof ‘flow’, but has more powerful impact if it isachieved. More importantly this can encourage youngpeople to discover interests and strengths, develop asense of control, a sense of purpose and a sense ofcompetency in a range of areas.

E is for EMOTION

Strong emotions scare workers. As teachers, healthprofessionals and youth workers, the expression ofstrong emotions by young people is met by efforts todampen these down. Obvious reasons can bepresented for why workers might do this, particularlywith emotions of pain, anger, melancholy and sadness.There are real concerns that these emotions may leadto behaviour that causes harm to self or others. Fearof contagion is also prominent, with worries thatexpressing depressive feelings will spread to others.The natural instinct of the worker is to shut this down,before it becomes ‘dangerous’ and to sanitiseemotions until they are ‘acceptable’. Similarly, more‘positive’ emotions such as exuberance, excitement,joy and curiosity can also elicit the same controlling

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also has a contagion effect, with others being‘infected’ by laughter, smiling or optimism. Othersbegin to feed off these behaviours and emotions andare attracted towards these people with strongpositive emotions.

The impact of positive emotions is much morepowerful than previously considered. Recent researchhas been making the case for a greater focus onbuilding positive emotions, as a way to counter thenegative emotions that young people and adults feel.Prior to this, attention was only paid to joy orhappiness as an indicator that an individual wasn’tdepressed. Fredrickson (2001, 2005, 2007) believesthis under-estimates the role of positive emotion inbuilding positive mental health. Her broaden-and-build theory (ibid, 2001) suggests that while negativeemotions narrow people’s perspective and keep themfocused on the specific problem or threat in hand,positive emotions broaden people’s thoughts, actionsand behaviours. Fredrickson and colleagues (2005)have shown that each time a person experiences apositive emotion, their capacity to think more clearlyabout problems is increased and their psychologicalresilience also increases. While this increase is oftenfleeting, over time it builds up into increasedresourcefulness. Her studies reveal that positiveemotions broaden the scope of our attention, theycause us to take more information, see connections toother people and things, and to be more creative.Solutions and opportunities are seen and found moreeasily, as we can see the big picture rather than thesmall details. This offers a new way out to youngpeople who often feel trapped or stuck and feel thatthere is ‘no way out’ of their own internal turmoil orpainful life situations they find themselves in.

There is no suggestion here that negative emotionsshould be quashed or contained, on the contrary spacefor these can be cathartic. Negative emotions live sideby side with positive emotions in all of us. Resilientpeople experience the same amount of negativeemotion as others. But the key difference betweenmore resilient people and those who are less resilient, isthe amount of positive emotion that they experience,thus boosting their overall mental well-being.

EMOTION – putting it into practice.

INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES FOR POSITIVEEMOTIONS

It is not enough to focus only on managing anddealing with negative emotions that young people are

experiencing. The impact of trying to make peoplefeel ‘less bad’ is limited. The approach that will bemost effective is in building positive emotions throughhealthy means, doing things with young people thatmake them feel happy, proud, curious or full of zest.Workers can encourage young people to behave indifferent ways that will increase their levels ofpositivity, through volunteering, through recognisingaccomplishments, through a positive relationship andthrough laughter. This can radiate benefits to othersin the family and the community.

SPACE FOR NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

Young people are open to the nuances and subtlemessages given out by adults and workers. This is nodifferent when it comes to talking about negativeemotions. Quickly young people take their cue fromthe worker about what is ‘acceptable’ to talk aboutand will either quit or continue based on this.Expressing emotions can be painful for the youngperson and difficult for the worker to watch andexperience, but may ultimately release the pressurevalve for a young person’s seemingly unbearable pain.This is a powerful tool for making young people feelunderstood and feel ‘normal’. It can offer reassurancethat allowing young people to speak about selfdestructive feelings will not make these worse.

Training in being a listener can give workersconfidence in this process of listening. Workers cantune workers into their own ‘taboo’ subjects and beginto challenge themselves on how to respond to youngpeople in helpful and healthy ways (showing shockcan shut young people down).

BUILDING EMOTIONAL LITERACY

Contemporary society gives more space to identifyingthoughts and behaviours rather than feelings. Evenwhen asked how a person feels, we often use thelanguage of thoughts to answer – ‘I feel that this isnot going well’ or ‘I feel that he is mad with me’.Adults and young people alike struggle to findlanguage that reflects this complex part of our being.Being able to identify an emotion can help either tounderstand why this has arisen and/or what actions orbehaviours it can lead to. Naming these can also be arelease or letting go of something that is annoying us.Use closing circles, evaluation techniques, words orpictures to ask young people to identify how they feel.This can be done at the beginning and end of asession, and is a feedback system for workers as wellas building up a new language for young people.

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REFLECT ON THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

Workers can use reflection to acknowledge positiveemotions that arise from feeling good aboutourselves, experiencing pleasure and having fun. Givetime for positive and negative feelings. So where aclosing circle or circle time identified some negativeemotions and positive emotions, we might be moreinclined to give space to negative feelings. Find waysto explore what has led to the positive emotions andwhat might be the outcome of feeling good for theyoung person. Make the connection in discussionsbetween how a young person feels and then how theymight behave. This gives them ways to explainthemselves to others.

M is for MINDFUL

MINDFUL – what the research tells us.

Go faster, work harder and play harder – this could bethe motto for modern living. The pace of life has beenquickened further by technology that gives instantaccess to work, information and other people. Theemphasis is on doing more and doing it faster. Theimpact of this is that we are going so fast, that we canfail to see or really experience the positive aspects inour lives. The human brain has a tendency to focus onthreat or negative aspects of the situation anddisregard the positive things that are happening.

This negativity bias (Rozin & Royzmon, 2001), or atendency to notice bad things, bad events and badpeople easily, means that we are more likely toremember an insult, a criticism or a piece of negativeinformation or feedback than a compliment or a pieceof positive information.

Examples of the negativity bias include:

1. Locating an angry face among happy faces moreeasily than the other way around.

2. Remembering a bad day more readily than a goodday.

3. Negative events can spiral out of control andbecome more negative in a much more extremeway than positive events can become morepositive.

4. Remembering negative things said about themmore easily than the nice things.

Noticing and even relishing things going wrong is acommon pursuit for many young people. Events are

best if they are fit for Facebook and when life is hum-drum, a sprinkle of over-dramatic expression can addjuice. This appreciation of negative activity comeseasily, while noticing when the world is right is muchmore elusive.

If we only notice negative things this gives us adistorted perspective on life. By noticing positivemoments and events, we can develop a more honestand realistic viewpoint on life. Similar to emotion, thisis not about suppressing negative things that happen,but about building ways of giving positive momentsmore attention. In counteracting this negativity biasyou can increase your well-being. Research suggeststhat you can obtain more pleasure from routine aspectsof daily life by training yourself to notice, reflect on andappreciate simple things (Kabat-Zinn, 1990).

Three approaches of savouring, gratitude andmindfulness can combine to challenge this negativitybias.

The way people experience positive events willdetermine how much positive emotion is generatedand how much it will promote their well-being.Savouring refers to thoughts or behaviours that cangenerate, intensify and extend the enjoyment of anevent.

There are 5 steps to savouring:

1. Slow down

2. Pay attention to what you are doing

3. Use all your senses

4. Stretch out the experience

5. Reflect on your enjoyment

The ability to savour the positive experiences in life isone of the most important ingredients of happinessand is believed to foster positive emotions andincrease well-being (Seligman, 2002).

Gratitude is grounded in the idea of wanting what wealready have. This involves being thankful for the goodelements of life that make it worth living and a beliefthat the source of this goodness lies to some degreeoutside ourselves. Gratitude is directed outsideourselves and is thankful to others (Emmons, 2007).

Developing an attitude of gratitude has a wide rangeof advantages for well-being. Research has shownthat it is associated with increased happiness,satisfaction with life, self-esteem, positive emotions,

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optimism, hope, enthusiasm, empathy, vitality,spirituality and forgiveness. Further links are recordedto decreased depression, anxiety, loneliness, envy,neuroticism and materialism.

Gratitude, however, doesn’t always come naturallyand is a virtue that can be cultivated. A simple tasknamed ‘The 3 Good Things exercise’ by Seligman(2011) demonstrates this point. He asked researchparticipants to write down, each night, 3 good thingsthat had happened that day and which they feltgrateful or thankful for. His research shows that, formany, this simple exercise can increase happiness andeven counteract mild to moderate depression.Essentially it works by re-focussing your attention tolook for what is good in life.

Mindfulness is paying attention in a particular way,that requires a deliberate awareness of the presentmoment. Skills of mindfulness help to tune into whatis happening in and around us in a conscious way. Thispractice is part of a range of stress-reductionprogrammes to improve the mental health of adultsand young people (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Some notableresults have been recorded, including:

- Less stress, anxiety, worry and depression;

- Better sleep and capacity for relaxation;

- Increased self-awareness;

- Less reactivity, anger and frustration;

- Increased self-confidence;

- More positive relationships with peers, teachersand parents;

- Enhanced capacity for focus and concentration;

(Zoogman et al, 2014)

MINDFUL – putting it into practice.

This is not about introducing meditation and yogainto the youth club or classroom. Bringingmindfulness to life is best if it is congruent and fitsinto the environment naturally using existing settings,resources and activities.

EXERCISES TO BUILD APPRECIATION

Building an appreciative style is done through a seriesof continuous habits. These habits are developedthrough exercises with young people such as:

• An opening circle and closing circle can be used ingroups to notice what you have enjoyed or learned.

• Ring of Fire is a groupwork exercise that sharesproud, fun and/or serious moments.

• Flower Petals exercise asks young people to writetheir own positive attributes on each petal of aflower.

• Highways exercise draws a picture of your life as amap, with all the features of roads, roundabouts,bumps, bridges and signposts.

• Creating a personal shield, with crest and motto, toillustrate your identity and character.

• Carrying out a personal skills audit notices theassets a young person has.

ENCOURAGING NOTICING SKILLS

When attention is paid to small things that lift youngpeople, this encourages noticing skills, to identify howthey can repeat these phenomenon. In using exerciseswith roots in mindfulness, workers can use bothnaturally occurring opportunities and plannedmoments to generate self-awareness and to slowdown the whirring cogs of the mind. Savouring thetexture, smell and taste of eating a sweet; pointingout the wind against your face in a bike ride or lookingat the happiness of listening to loud music are allmoments of being in the present. Come to the end ofa football match and use this experience in whateverway is right for the group. Mentally run through thematch to reflect; or use the silence for each person tocheck in with their physical body. Have a discussionas a group about what just happened. All of thesethings will require the right setting and will take theyoung people time to get used to a ‘new way of doingthings’, but can add value to the experience for youngpeople.

FOCUS ON PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Mindfulness emphasises a balanced approach tolooking at past, present and future. Young people canstruggle with this balance. They can worry too muchabout what might happen or what others might think;be consumed with wanting to ‘be somebody’. They canreplay the past over and over in their minds, to thepoint that it mushrooms out of control. Others placethemselves firmly in the present, with hedonistictendencies towards chasing enjoyment for the here-and-now with no sense of consequence. Workers canadd new perspectives to these approaches. Whereyoung people seem focused only on the present,

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workers can encourage discussions on goals, onconsequences, on steps towards achievements to builda more future-minded approach to living. Alternatively,helping young people to focus on past can remind themof long forgotten memories that add to their sense ofimportance and value, that can be built upon.

Greater balance across past, present and future willlead to a more robust resilient approach to life.

A is for ACCCOMPLISHMENT

ACCOMPLISHMENT – what the research tells us.

Accomplishment, recognition and achievement are allways of boosting self-esteem. They make us feel goodif we feel they have been earned and are reflective ofour own view of ourselves. Across different settings,accomplishments are measured differently.

For young people, school is the primary place whereaccomplishments are noticed and seem to count, withcertificates for pupil of the month; attendancecertificates, prefect badges, exams and academicscholarship recorded and certified. Extra-curricularactivities are also recognised in this setting, wherewinning competitions or public performances are alsogreeted with joy, pride and awards. ‘High-flyers’ arerecognised more easily for their accomplishments inthe school setting. What of the more run-of-the-millchild or young person whose moments to shine areless evident? A lack of recognition ofaccomplishments can have a deep and lasting impacton motivation, performance and mental health.Therefore, workers need to understand and approachaccomplishments differently if we are to attend to theneeds of many young people who are not ‘high-flyers’.

Accomplishments described above reward the youngperson for the end product (the performance, theexam, the winning place in the competition). Itdoesn’t recognise personal improvements as anaccomplishment. It doesn’t reward persistence andtenacity. It doesn’t prize those who have taken risks,faced challenges or struggled. It sees only the winningflag, not the skill along the way.

Dweck (2006) makes a distinction betweenperformance goals and learning goals. Performancegoals emphasise the size, scale and impact of the endproduct. Learning goals emphasise the process ofimprovement and development, taking into accountthe starting point and movement of a young person

relative to themselves instead of others. For manyyoung people, setting learning goals opens up greateropportunities for realistic goals. More importantly, itcan impact hugely on maintaining and driving themotivation and persistence of a young person.

Valuing and working towards learning goals is not the‘traditional’ way of doing things – our culture valuesthe win! More recently this approach is beingchallenged through ideas such as life long learning orunderstanding learning styles, which recognizes thatone size does not fit all. But a new approach thatrecognizes the value of achieving learning goals willrequire an accompanying change of mindset. A fixedmindset is more closely aligned to performance goals,whereas a growth mindset offers greater opportunitiesfor recognizing bite-size accomplishments andpersonal bests.

Performance goals and a fixed mindset.

Performance goals are about achieving a certain levelof performance in comparison to others. Getting an Agrade, coming top etc. Performance goals tend to becreated by those with a fixed mindset, and in this way,a person’s ability or value can be calibrated moreeasily and then ‘fixed’ at a measurable point on ascale. Meeting the set criteria means that their talentis validated. If they fall short of the target, however,the reverse is true, they are no longer bright, talented,clever etc. Performance goals are about proving yourworth and looking smart. Performance goals are seenas indicating stable characteristics and peopleadopting them can become over concerned withlooking good and proving their ability as opposed toactual learning. Due to the fact that an individualidentity can be tied up in achieving performancegoals, this can lead to them refusing to take onchallenges, avoiding mistakes etc. Failing to reach aset performance goal can result in a person explainingit to themselves as: “I am a failure” rather that “I havefailed at this task.”

Dweck (2006) has shown that those who holdperformance goals are less likely to move out of theircomfort zone, or attempt new and challenging tasks.They face the self-limiting belief that they might notdo well, meaning they are ‘not smart’, and that their‘failures’ and ‘lack of ability’ have been exposed toothers. For young people, pursuing performance goalscan have a detrimental effect on their motivation andcan lead to them developing a helpless, rather than alearning, response to failure.

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Learning goals and a growth mindset.

Learning goals, in contrast, are those that are createdby people with a growth mindset. This means thatthey are focused on gaining competence in an areaand then mastering it. Life is less about winning andlosing or passing and failing but more about growingand learning. Those adopting learning goals are keento develop new skills and see mistakes as feedbackand an opportunity to develop. They consider whatthey can learn from the experience and how this mayhelp them to do better next time. They are also morewilling to try new approaches in order to improve.Doing badly in an exam, for example, is not seen asreflecting their innate level of ability but ratherindicating how they are doing at that moment in timeor how much effort they have invested in the task.Adopting learning goals is shown to increaseengagement, persistence and motivation (ibid, 2006).

Mental health is boosted by recognisingaccomplishments that motivate us to ‘keep going’.This approach may buck the trend of solelyrecognising those who steal the show or are often inthe spotlight. But, ultimately, this shift in mindsetrewards those with persistence, tenacity and whoovercome challenges. These might not be therecognised accomplishments of the school setting, buttheir value is certainly seen in work settings and inresilient flourishing people.

ACCOMPLISHMENT – putting it into practice.

The role of the worker is two-fold, in recognising theaccomplishment when it happens, and inunderstanding and working with the young personthrough the pathway that leads to theaccomplishment.

RECOGNISE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Recognition of accomplishments often needs anaudience or external validation – so events thatprize young people and present theiraccomplishments are important in building a senseof self-efficacy.

• Remember that accomplishment is relative, thatfor one person who takes part in a fishing project,catching a big fish is their goal and accomplishment,whereas for another, catching any fish is thechallenge and the goal. Where the activity hasmeaning and relevance for a young person, then theywill feel pride and a sense of real accomplishment.

PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES WITH MILESTONESAND GOALS

In designing any work with young people it is worthconsidering how accomplishment will be measuredand celebrated. Project work which has milestonesworks better than open ended programmes. Every sixor eight weeks, a milestone might offer pause forreflection on what has been achieved and learned,what is to come and to celebrate the moment.Recognise improvements as accomplishments ratherthan always working towards a set performance goalor milestone.

GOALS ARE RELEVANT AND MEANINGFUL TO THEYOUNG PERSON

Workers work with young people to identify goals thatwill motivate and keep them engaged. These goals canbe explored together to identify whether they arehealthy or toxic to the well-being of the young person– is it realistic and achievable for that individual, anddoes it build on their strengths.

MEANINGFUL PRAISE WITH FEEDBACK

Lying is obvious to young people. Where workers aremisleading or ‘generous’ about the achievements of ayoung person, they can tell and they are unconvincedby it. They may not outwardly confess that they spotthe lie, but subconsciously they know it. This ‘white lie’can undermine the praise and acknowledgement youare giving. Workers, beware of giving false praise oroverstating the role or achievements of a youngperson. Give meaningful praise where it is due, identifysmall achievements where large ones have not fullybeen reached and use these moments to offerfeedback that can build new goals in moving forward.

P is for PURPOSE

PURPOSE – what the research tells us.

‘What’s the point?’ This question can torment someyoung people who struggle to see not only the pointof life in general but also to see the point of beingalive. Having a sense of purpose is elusive for manyyoung people. On the one hand, they are searchingfor hits that immediately make you feel good. Thesemake it feel good to be alive for that moment, butthere can be a longer term payback for this. Doingthings that improve the world or help others can giveus a deep sense of well-being, but this requires someget-up-and-go that is lacking where someone is in a

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slump. It pre-supposes that you possess some skills ortalents that will benefit the world, which many youngpeople have not yet discovered or may have littleconfidence in. Having an input into the community orthe wider world is a high risk strategy for those whoseefforts might be rejected or for others, it can take along time to feel that efforts and input areappreciated by others. The mental and timeinvestment can seem too much and too long, with noguaranteed payback.

This section will not answer the big philosophical orreligious questions about the meaning of life. Purposedescribed here is about feeling important in the world;feeling you have something to give; connection toothers and to the world outside yourself. A sense ofpurpose may not generate immediate happiness, but ifwe think about well-being as fulfilment, theconnections are much clearer. Where a sense ofpurpose is loose or missing, a sense of fulfilment canbe undermined.

Having a clear mission and purpose in life has beenwidely recognised in building self-worth and self-efficacy. Sometimes the ‘purpose’ is self-absorbed andabout self-promotion, which is less healthy than a‘purpose’ which puts the needs of others before yourown. For maximum effect, the purpose must havealtruistic characteristics, with a goal bigger thanyourself… which goes against the dominant trends inour modern consumer culture. Money, fame, cars,beauty, houses, clothes and technology all offer thepromise of contentment. As human beings, however,we quickly adapt to new circumstances and soon takethem for granted. The accumulation of state of theart belongings and wealth doesn’t feed your desires;instead, your expectations rise and the desire expandsfurther.

‘The great majority of people in English speakingnations now define their lives through earnings,possessions, appearances and celebrity and thosethings are making them miserable because theyimpede the meeting of our fundamental needs.’

(James, 2007)

Signature strengths and a sense of purpose.

Reaching this sense of fulfilment requires attentionfirst to finding and building our signature strengthsand character strengths. Signature strengths are thosethings we enjoy doing and are good at, that areessential to our character. Seligman (2002) hassuggested that it is mainly fruitless to devote much

effort to correcting your weaknesses. Rather, thedeepest emotional satisfaction comes from buildingand using your signature strengths. Using andexpanding our signature strengths has huge well-beingoutcomes, including excitement at using the strength;setting challenges to use the strength in new contextsand ways, and ultimately the creation of personalprojects around the strength. Fortifying thesesignature strengths can then lead to a greater sense ofpurpose, self-efficacy and wish to use this strength forthe benefit of others. This process can build the beliefthat, because of these strengths, there is meaning andpurpose to me being alive.

PURPOSE - putting it into practice.

FOCUS ON STRENGTHS, NOT ON WEAKNESSES

The research wholeheartedly advocates a shift fromthinking about youth as ‘problem’ to thinking aboutyouth as ‘resource’. This approach understands that thebest way to prevent youth problems is through theactive development and practicing of skills, attitudesand behaviours. The focus on strengths has manysecondary outcomes. Young people can design and takepart in projects or services that are based around theirstrengths; the tendencies of workers to ‘nag’ youngpeople is reduced as the focus shifts from weaknesses tostrengths. Feedback on performance becomes muchmore positive for the young person when all eyes are onstrengths. This, in turn, builds a willingness to hear andtake feedback, as improvements to our strengths seemsmore manageable and constructive.

MORE OF WHAT ANIMATES YOUNG PEOPLE

For young people to build a sense of purpose, workersuse their intuitive senses and feedback to work outwhat captures their imagination. This initial hook isused then to engage their motivation, practice theirsignature skills and develop projects or behavioursthat make the world meaningful. Where workersnotice a musical ear, a joker or a singer, this is a goodplace to start in designing exercises and activities thatbuild upon and exploit these signature strengths.

Too often, a young person has no idea of theirsignature strengths, and have been given noencouragement to seek them. New experiences canreveal new talents – outdoor pursuits, camping trips ora youth exchange provide a new environment formany young people. Alternatively being given a newchance for a part in a play or to spray-paint a graffitiwall might spark off discoveries that can be amplified.

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CONNECT YOUNG PEOPLE TO THE WORLD

Workers can develop planned projects to buildconnections to the world. Community clean-ups, eco-projects, parents evenings, fund-raising, globaldiscussions all create these connections. Taking part insoccer tournaments with other clubs andcommunities can also build a sense of pride andloyalty in their own part of this world. Use naturallyoccurring moments to make the links between what ishappening in the media and our own lives – so mediacoverage of human trafficking in large-scale boats canspark a conversation of human trafficking locally, withthe opportunity for local action group to becomeinvolved or vice-versa.

Volunteering is more than just work experience. Themotivation is not just to build personal or work skills,but through volunteering to have an impact andbenefit for others. Workers can foster volunteeringamongst young people by recognising the need forearly support and encouragement and that one sizedoesn’t fit all. Volunteering on one-off events givesyoung people a chance to test their skills while notcommitting long term. These will suit those withstrong engagement skills, who are confident in leadinga group, handing out information, dealing with thepublic. Others who are well organised may preferback-room jobs, which might mean volunteering inthe run up to big events. Long term volunteering mayfollow from these experiences, but are more likelywhere the young person feels a sense of belonging andhas built up their sense of worth to themselves andthe organisation or community.

S is for SOCIAL CONNECTIONS

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS – what the research tells us.

Communication and connection are different. Instantcommunication is a feature of life for young people,with mobile devices offering access to people, opinion,support and information all day and night. Manyyoung people mistake communication withconnection, believing these to be one and the same.The stark reality is that young people can experiencegreater loneliness, isolation and vulnerability as devicesbecome their best friends rather than real people.

The difference is that social connection involvescontact and feelings. The physical elements ofbuilding social connections are subtle but powerful.

Hearing a voice and using your own voice; tone ofvoice; hearing and generating laughter, touch andcontact, smell, sharing, the excitement and activity ofa few people together, the sense of belonging andidentity in groups and crowds, all add to connectionsand health filled relationships. These extras are leftout in texts and e-mails, posts and vlogs, leavingyoung people with heaps of communication, but leftfeeling isolated.

Happiness is best predicted by the range and depth ofone’s social connections (Putnam, 2001). Across allmodels of well-being, the need to function wellsocially is a common theme. Humans have a verybasic need to belong to groups and interact withothers. Deiner & Seligman (2002) conducted a studyof the most and least happy people and discoveredthat the single unifying factor, (the trait that thehappy group had in common and on which theydiffered from the unhappy group), was the breadthand depth of close trusting relationships. We functionmuch better when we are in social networks that offercooperation, support and enjoyment.

Many of the activities that increase flourishing aredone in the company of others: Flow, positivity,gratitude, meaning, a sense of belonging; a sense ofcontribution and a sense of place, in a reference groupwho share your values. It is therefore difficult toimagine how mental well-being can be developed andmaintained by people who are entirely isolated fromothers on a prolonged or permanent basis. This is notto suppose that flourishing and resilient people needto have company. On the contrary, their strong senseof belonging, sense of self and identity mean they canendure and blossom when isolated or on their own.But the fundamentals that have given them suchstrength comes from the relationship.

Human survival has been dependent on being part ofa group, with the emotional and practical safety whichthis provides. The sense of belonging which isgenerated by being part of this ‘community’ leads toan increase in positive emotions. However, theconverse is also true – that losing that sense ofcommunity leads to negative emotions, with nosharing of emotions and the purpose of life feelingless tangible and more distant.

Social relationships within a structure of socialnetworks, contribute not only to our well-being butalso our physical health. Social support is the helpprovided by others in the form of nurturing, friendship,even material support that helps us cope in times of

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difficulty. Connected to social support is emotionalsupport, in the form of empathy, caring and trustamong two or more parties. Emotional supportprovides individuals with the opportunities to expresstheir feelings safely, with a cathartic effect as well as abonding one.

Strong social networks and connections to communityare instrumental in building a strong sense of meaningand purpose. Putnam (2001) defines socialconnections both in terms of the number ofconnections an individual has and the strength ofthose connections. Where both measures are great,strong associations have been shown with higherlevels of life satisfaction, overall happiness and adecrease in depressive symptoms. Being connectedinvolves being part of something larger than yourself.Putnam builds on this concept of social capital byshowing how social networks can build a sense ofcommunity identity and solidarity with othermembers of this community. This then leads to aprinciple of ‘reciprocity’ which begins as a guidingprinciple of ‘I’ll do this for you if you do that for me’.This idea quickly develops and assumes that similartrust will apply in in new relationships also. Thereforethe new concept that is created is ‘I’ll do this for youin the expectation that you may not do something inreturn for me, but that someone else will dosomething for me down the road.’ (ibid, 2001).

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS – putting it intopractice.

WORKING WITH GROUPS TO BUILD SOCIALCONNECTIONS

A key practice to build on this notion of socialconnections, is to work with groups of young peopleand to run groupwork programmes. Groupwork is notused merely to mean’ teamwork’, or as an efficiencymeasure, to maximise the resources of the worker. ForSmith (2008) groupwork is more than a technique:

‘We explore the process of working with groups bothso that they may undertake particular tasks andbecome environments where people can share incommon life, form beneficial relationships and helpeach other.’

The function of working with groups is to create anenvironment where young people are mutuallyresponsible for each other and where individuals areof inherent worth. Groupwork builds socialconnections by helping young people to help each

other, in what Shulman refers to as a ‘mutual aidsystem’ (1999). Working with groups holds a carefulbalance of building individual strengths and creatingsocial networks and social supports for young peopleto belong to. Ultimately working with groups canbuild access and practice for more fulfilling lives foryoung people and their communities.

Workers can act as gatekeepers for young people intogroups and experiences that might seem outside ayoung person’s comfort zone. Fear of intimacy ordisclosure, fear of embarrassment, worries aboutsaying something stupid or shyness are all barriersthat young people consistently experience when facedwith new peer interactions. Facilitating entry andwelcoming actions is part of the worker’s repertoire –‘what about you and Martin working on thattogether?’ or ‘why not join us to see if you mightenjoy it?’ This role can be built into the group processby a ‘meet and greet’ routine for new members.Setting up and maintaining group contracts is a wayfor workers to further this facilitative, inclusiveapproach. This in turn will encourage young peoplewith a more cautious disposition, who can find richreturns from groupwork:

In this safe environment they find allies, aremotivated, praised, challenged, confronted andshare experiences with their peers. Acknowledgingthe agency of the individual, in affecting personalchange, the group provides opportunities forlearning, development and personal growth. (Neill, 2015)

THE RELATIONSHIP ISTHE INTERVENTION

The relationship is the intervention. It is not thevehicle towards something else. It is not the means toan end. It is the end of itself. Some young people willhave experience of either painful or weak relationshipswhere care, compassion and communication arelimited. Even for those who have experience of strongloving relationships, a new relationship with a newadult can be the right person at the right time, whoseperspective and attention can be life-changing. For ayoung person, the power of a positive relationship canhave deep and far reaching consequences for theirmental health for that immediate moment and for along time after.

THE PURPOSE OF THE RELATIONSHIP

For the relationship to be a healthy one for the youngperson, the purpose of the relationship must be

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healthy. Drug dealers and groomers may have verystrong relationships and connections with youngpeople, but the difference lies in the intent. Forworkers who are interested in building positiverelationships with young people, the intendedoutcomes for the young person might include a senseof self-worth, self-efficacy, problem solving, sense ofpurpose, identifying strengths and talents andultimately empowerment and independence. Wherethe relationship is serving the worker more than theyoung person, the motivations of the worker need tobe questioned and challenged. This can happen wherea worker’s self-esteem is boosted by being popularwith the young people and that this is the primaryfocus. Worker popularity is not problematic, as long asthe worker can use these features to further theoutcomes for the young person.

THE RELATIONSHIP AS A MODEL FOR OTHERRELATIONSHIPS

The relationship is also important in modelling ahealthy life. So the young person-adult relationshipwhich is positive can act as an example for futurerelationships. Its’ value is both in itself and in what itcan teach a young person. Establishing andnegotiating boundaries, reconciling, expressing angeror frustration with each other in appropriate ways,showing kindness and affections in healthy ways,communicating clearly through talking and listening,working through difficult or painful moments together– some or all of these may surface as a feature ofhealthy relationships that can be relevant for peer orintimate relationships.

Signposts for LIFEMAPS

Mental health material invariably ends withsignposting – showing people who need supportwhere to go and how to get help on-line andthrough other organisations. This signpostinginformation is not to move people onto otherplaces but to encourage workers and policy makersto pause and consider the discussions contained inLIFEMAPS.

The full scope of mental health issues needsresourcing and support. It is not enough to investin treating only acute and chronic mental illness.The current downward spiral of mental healthacross full populations of young people will have acrippling effect on the health service.

Investment in early intervention will yieldoutcomes. As outlined in the final project reportfrom the Foresight Mental Capital and Well-beingProject (2008):

‘An individual’s mental capital and well-beingcrucially affect their path through life. Moreover,they are vitally important for the healthyfunctioning of families, communities and society.Together, they fundamentally affect behaviour,social cohesion, social inclusion and our prosperity…childhood and adolescence are particularly crucialstages when important skills are learned which setthe trajectory for mental capital and well-beingthrough later years.’

Mental health is not the preserve of mental healthprofessionals, but can be boosted by consideredapproaches to working with young people.Thinking, reflective workers from across disciplinescan use LIFEMAPS approaches in their own settingto compliment other interventions from healthprofessionals.

LIFEMAPS presents mental health as an approachnot a theme or a programme. It is built throughmoments and activities that never mention mentalhealth. It can be woven into everyday life, byworkers, parents, volunteers, teachers, classroomassistants, play workers, youth workers, healthprofessionals and counsellors using these newstrategies and new thinking skills.

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Emmons, R. (2007) Thanks: How the new science ofgratitude can make you happier. Boston: HoughtonMifflan Harcourt.

Fredrickson, B.L. (2001) The role of positiveemotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. AmericanPsychologist, 56, 216-226

Fredrickson, B. & Losada, M. (2005) Positive Affectand the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing.American Psychologist. 60 (7), 678-686.

Fredrickson, B. (2007) Positivity. Oxford: Oneworld.

Government Office for Science (2008) ForesightMental Capital and Well-being Project: Final ProjectReport. London: The Government Office for Science,London.

Hulme, M. (2009) Life Support: young people’sneeds in a digital age. YouthNet report. Available fromhttp://www.youthnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Life-Support-Report.pdf.[Accessed on June 5th 2015]

Huppert, F., & So, T. (2009) What percentage ofpeople in Europe are flourishing and whatcharacterizes them? Cambridge, UK: The Well-beingInstitute, Cambridge University.

James, O. (2007) Affluenza: How to be successfuland stay sane. London: Vermillion

Jeffs, T. and Smith, M. K. (1997, 2005, 2011) ‘What isinformal education?’. The encyclopaedia of informaleducation. Available from [http://infed.org/mobi/what-is-informal-education/. [Accessed on 7th April 2014].

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990) Full catastrophe living: Usingthe wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, painand illness. New York: Delacorte Press.

Keyes, C. L. M. (2002) The mental healthcontinuum: From languishing to flourishing in life.Journal of health and Behavior Research. 43, 207–222.

Keyes, C. (2007) Promoting and Protecting MentalHealth & Flourishing. American Psychologist. 62 (2),95-108.

Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. and Diener, E. (2005) TheBenefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does HappinessLead to Success? Psychological Bulletin. 131(6), 803-855.

Masten AS. (2001) Ordinary magic: resilienceprocesses in development. American Psychologist. 56,227–238

McLean, A. (2003) The Motivated School. London:Sage publications.

Neill, G (2015) Working more creatively withgroups: supporting groupwork practice in youth work.Belfast: Curriculum Development Unit

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Bandura, A. (1977) Self-efficacy: Towards a unifyingtheory of behavioural change. Psychological Review,84, 191-215.

Baylis N. (2005) Learning from wonderful lives.Cambridge: Well-Being Books.

Bouchard,T.J. Jr, Lykken D.T., McGue M., Segal, N.L.,Tellegen, A. (1990) "Sources of human psychologicaldifferences: the Minnesota Study of Twins RearedApart". Science. 250 (4978), 223–228.

Csikszentmihalyi M. (1992) Flow: the psychologyof happiness. London: Rider.

Davies, B. and Merton, B. (2010) Straws in the wind:the State of Youth Work Practice in a changing policyenvironment (Phase 2). Available from:www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/hls/applied-social-sciences/youthcommunity/researchconsultancy/reportspublications.jsp . [Accessed on April 15th, 2014].

Deci, E, L. and Ryan, R, M. (2000) The ‘what’ and‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry. 11,227–268.

Deiner, E. and Seligman, M.E.P. (2002) Very happypeople. Psychological Science, 13, 81-84.

Department for Health, Social Services and PublicSafety (2004) Health and Social Care ComparativeData for Northern Ireland and Other CountriesInformation and Analysis Directorate. Belfast: DHSSP

Department for Health, Social Services & PublicSafety (2006) Protect Life – a shared vision: TheNorthern Ireland suicide prevention strategy andaction plan 2006-2011. Belfast: DHSSPS.

Department for Health, Social Services and PublicSafety (2012) Protect Life: The Northern IrelandSuicide Prevention Strategy (Refreshed) 2012-2014.Belfast: DHSSPS.

Dweck C.S. (2006) Mindset: How you can fulfillyour potential. New York: Random House.

Emmons, R. (2003) Personal Goals, Life Meaning &Virtue: Wellsprings of Positive Life. In C.L.M. Keyes & J.Haidt (Eds.), Flourishing: Positive Psychology and theLife Well Lived. (pp.105-128). Washington, US: APA.

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Nicholls, D. (2012) For Youth workers and youthwork; speaking out for a better future. Bristol: ThePolicy Press.

Nuffield Foundation (2013) Social Trends andmental health: introducing the main findings.London: Nuffield Foundation.

O’Neill, S., Ferry, F., Murphy, S., Corry, C., Bolton, D.,Devine, B., & Bunting, B. (2014). Patterns of suicidalideation and behaviour in Northern Ireland andassociations with conflict related trauma. PlosOne, 9,3, e91532

Peterson C. (2006) A primer in positive psychology.Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Peterson, C. & Seligman, M. (2004) CharacterStrengths & Virtues: A Handbook and Classification.New York: Oxford University Press.

Princes Trust (2013) Annual Youth Index Report.London: Princes Trust. Available fromhttp://www.princes-trust.org.uk/pdf/youth-index-2013.pdf [Accessed on June 5th, 2015].

Putnam, R. (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse andRevival of American Community. New York: Simon andSchuster.

Reivich, K.(2006) Address to the Centre forConfidence and Well-being’s Vanguard Programme.Available from:http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk/pp/overview.php?p=c2lkPTQmdGlkPTAmaWQ9NTU. [Accessed onApril 7th, 2014].

Rozin, P., Royzmon, E. (2001) Negativity bias,negativity dominance and contagion. Personality andsocial psychology review. 5, 296-320.

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Seligman, M. (2002) Authentic Happiness: Usingthe New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potentialfor Lasting Fulfilment. New York: The Free Press.

Seligman, M.E.P. (2006). Learned Optimism. NewYork: First Vintage Books.

Seligman, M.E.P. (2011) Flourish: A newunderstanding of happiness and well- being and howto achieve them. London: Nicholas Brealey.

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APPENDIX 1 - RIGHT HERE FERMANAGH

RIGHT HERE FERMANAGH promotes the positivemental health of young men and young women aged16-25 across Fermanagh. The project challenges thestigma associated with mental illness and mentalhealth, promotes new and innovative ways ofimproving the mental health of young people acrossthe whole population and influences policy to improveexisting mental health services for young people inthe area. YouthAction NI is the lead delivery partner,with work with young men and work with youngwomen in single gender groups being as the primaryface to face practice.

The project focuses on five themes to build positivemental health for 16-25 year olds:

• Youth-led interventions: young women and youngmen in rural Fermanagh building decision-makingand leadership skills with which they can becomeactive leaders for other young people.

• Building resilience – young women and young mengaining and practicing thinking and action skillswhich provide them with a more positive approachto the daily challenges of everyday living, togreater life challenges and changes which threatentheir stability and identity.

• Building capacity – workers, volunteers, teachers,,health professionals, parents and adults gainingnew strategies and new thinking skills which theycan use with young people in their communities.

• Local campaign – young people from ruralFermanagh will have a greater knowledge ofmental health issues for young people and astronger concept of what constitutes good mentalhealth.

• Strategic partnership & influencing work – buildingalliances and partnerships across health, educationand local government to improve mental healthservice delivery to and for young people.

Right Here Fermanagh is a partnership across Health,Education and local government.

The 9 partners are Action Mental Health,YouthActionNI; Western Education and Library Board;Public Health Agency; ARC Healthy Living Centre; OAKHealthy Living Centre; Youth Council for NorthernIreland; Fermanagh District Council and WesternHealth and Social Care Trust.

Right Here Fermanagh is funded by the Paul HamlynFoundation and the Mental Health Foundation, withmatch funding provided by the Public Health Agency,Western Education & Library Board, Youth Council forNorthern Ireland and Fermanagh District Council.

LIFEMAPS MODEL

The LIFEMAPS model has been developed from workwith 16-25 year-olds spanning the full range of themental health continuum; ranging from work withyoung people who have identified diagnosed mentalillnesses to those with moderate mental health andthose needing to boost existing flourishing behaviours.

This document accompanies the LIFEMAPShandbook, a practical resource for workers andthose interested in building the mental health ofyoung people. Available on www.youthaction.org

Other resources

Other documents from www.right-here.org.uk include:

- How to promote mental well-being in youthwork practice

This guide is aimed at youth organisations workingwith young people aged 16–25. Its objective is tohelp to embed mental well-being improvementpractices within the organisations.

- How to promote mental well-being in primarycare

This guide has been designed to help GPs and otherprimary care practitioners develop practice that isyoung person friendly, and better identify andaddress the mental health needs of the youngpeople who come to see them.

- How to commission better mental health andwell-being services for young people

This guide is aimed at those with a responsibility forcommissioning mental health and well-beingservices for young people.

- How to promote youth friendly mental healthand well-being services

This guide has been written to help servicesaddress the specific needs of this age group andtackle some of the barriers which prevent themfrom accessing traditional mental health services.

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APPENDIX 2 -MORE OF WHAT THERESEARCH TELLS US

Mental Health can be learned.

Lyubomirsky et al (2005) suggests that each personhas a set point or characteristic level of well-beingwhich is 50% determined by our genes. This follows abody of research into the happiness levels of twinsand in particular the work of Lykken and colleaguesfrom the University of Minnesota (1990). Thisresearch concludes that aspects of our temperament,our resilience, levels of anxiety, our general dispositionare partly determined by our genes. A furthersuggestion from the research, that seemscounterintuitive, is that the circumstances of our life(our income, where we live, level of education,religious beliefs, marital status etc.) contribute only afurther 10% towards our sense of well-being. Thisleaves some 40% of our well-being open tointervention.

As Daniel Kahneman (2002 Nobel laureate) said‘Happiness is a skill.’ This means that whilst there areno quick fixes, there are certain attitudes, skills andexperiences which increase the likelihood of thingsworking out well. As with any skill, through effort, wecan learn it, practice it and improve it.

New approaches to learning can improvemental health.

To be motivated to do something, a person needs tohave a high expectation of success and to believe theycan do it. The high expectation of success is calledself-efficacy. This is important for people to havewhen they encounter difficulties. If a person has highself-efficacy, they will keep putting in the effort andnot be discouraged and such expectations will alsodrive other behaviours aimed at delivering a goal. Arelated belief for a person is that of their owncompetence. A person needs to believe in their abilityto do what they want to do. What is particularlyimportant here is having goals which an individualmust work hard to achieve but which are ultimatelyachievable.

Martin Seligman (1995) suggests that this emphasison self-esteem has contributed to the increase indepression in young people:

‘Armies of teachers along with parents are strainingto bolster children’s self-esteem. That soundsinnocuous enough, but the way they do it oftenerodes children’s sense of worth. By emphasisinghow a child feels at the expense of what the childdoes – mastery, persistence, overcoming frustrationand boredom and meeting a challenge – parentsand teachers are making this generation of childrenmore vulnerable to depression.’

Such misguided attempts to boost self-esteem havethe effect of making young people feel better, butultimately does not build mastery and self-efficacy(whereby the young person both feels good and doeswell).

Learning resilient thoughts, behaviours and actions.

Children and young people vary widely in how theyrespond to a set of circumstances (Baylis, 2005).Some may do well, even in the most adversecircumstances, whilst others seem to have littlecapacity to cope with lesser difficulties.

Viewed in terms of their strengths rather than theirweaknesses, struggling children were found to developgreat inner resources that helped them to learn toadjust and adapt to the changed circumstances oftheir life.

When surrounded by the right supports (protectivefactors), they could not only survive descending oddsbut go on to have productive lives, often made moremeaningful by their struggle.

Optimistic thinking can encourage learning.

Seligman, in Learned Optimism and The OptimisticChild argues that each of us has our own ‘explanatorystyle,’ a way of thinking about the causes of thingsthat happen in our lives. He suggests that there are 3main dimensions that we use to interpret events andthese are permanence, pervasiveness andpersonalisation. He proposes that understandingthese perspectives is pivotal to challenging apessimistic style and building an optimistic one.

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PERMANENT vs TEMPORARY(ALWAYS vs NOT ALWAYS)

A person with a pessimistic explanatory style will beassured that when something goes wrong, it willalways go wrong. This contrasts those with anoptimistic style, who will be firm in their belief thatthis will be better next time. Permanence vstemporary, e.g. “I am stupid vs I didn’t revise”

PERVASIVE vs SPECIFIC(EVERYTHING vs NOT EVERYTHING)

An optimist would see failure as a specific setbackrather than all pervasive. Pessimists on the other handmay catastrophise and see their failures as global, e.g.“I’m rubbish at sport vs I didn’t play well at the start ofthe second half.”

PERSONAL vs EXTERNAL (ME vs NOT ME)

When things go wrong, pessimists will often blamethemselves, internalising the cause. Optimists on theother hand, consider a greater number of factors,including external events and the actions of othersthat may have contributed.

(Seligman, 1995, 2006)

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation reflects the inborn humantendency to seek out novelty and challenges, toexplore the world, to exercise our capacities. Self-determination theory (SDT) points to three basichuman needs that are involved in motivating people(Ryan & Deci, 2000). These basic psychological needs are:

(1) AUTONOMY– the need to choose what one isdoing, being an agent of one’s own life .This isthe perception of experiencing a sense of choiceand psychological freedom in the initiation andcontinued engagement in one’s actions.

(2) COMPETENCE- the need to feel confident indoing what one is doing and having theperception of being effective in dealing withthe environment.

(3) RELATEDNESS– the need to have humanconnections that are close and secure, whilststill respecting autonomy and facilitatingcompetence. This is the sense of being caredfor and connected to other people.

(ibid, 2000)

SDT’s prediction that meeting these needs will movemotivation from extrinsic to intrinsic has beensupported by a large body of research.

Flow.

Csikszentmihalyi (1992) suggested 8 key conditionsfor flow to occur:

1. The task is challenging and requires skill.

2. We concentrate fully on the activity.

3. There are clear goals.

4. We get immediate feedback.

5. We have deep involvement.

6. There is a sense of control.

7. Our sense of self vanishes.

8. We lose our normal sense of time.

Flow helps us ‘feel good’ and ‘do well’.

Well-being is not simply about feeling good but alsoinvolves doing well. Flow is the mental state in whicha person performing an activity is fully immersed in afeeling of energized focus, full involvement, andenjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence,flow is characterized by complete absorption in whatone does. We are so involved in an activity that therest of the world seems to have disappeared, our mindisn’t wandering, and we are totally focused on theactivity to the extent that we may not even be awareof ourselves. Flow can only be experienced when weencounter challenges that test our skills, yet ourcapacities are such that it is just about possible for usto meet the challenge.

Growth mindsets encourage flow.

Dweck’s work (2006) has been crucial to ourunderstanding of how mindsets can impact onpersonal performance and achievement. Her work hasidentified two distinctive mindsets which are presentin the population and the dominance of one or othercan have marked effect on how we approach learningand challenging tasks. Essentially, some of us believethat characteristics and abilities are fixed assets,which individuals hold and have innate to themselves.This attitude drives a ‘fixed mindset’ which attributesaccomplishment to an in-built ability that has led tosuccess. This attitude under estimates the role oflearning or improvement in performance andachievement. Dweck turns her attention to those whoview talents and skills as flexible, with a belief thateffort and practice can lead to improved outcomes.

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Those people with this attitude to learning have whatDweck calls ‘a growth mindset’. The opportunities forlearning are viewed positively with a growth mindset.Success and failure are viewed by those with a growthmindset as a reflection not on the innate ability of theindividual, but as a commentary on their approach totasks, improvement and learning.

This theory has been influential in identifying patternsof how children and young people approachchallenging tasks. Those who exhibit a growthmindset have a more positive approach to difficultsituations, with resilience and tenacity featuringprominently. For those with a fixed mindset theinternalization of failure can be personally damaging,as the tendency is towards self-blame. Thereforeapproaching a challenging task for those with a fixedmindset is fraught with psychological danger – in‘discovering’ that they are not as talented orintelligent as they had believed. This mindset alignsfailure to an inherent flaw in identity and attributesthis failure to personal flaws rather than more flexibleexplanations e.g. need for more practice or to put inmore effort. For many who exhibit a fixed mindset,withdrawal from an activity (which might bringpotential failure) is preferable to trying and failing:

The primary cause of disengagement from learningis repeatedly putting failure down to stable,personal, uncontrollable, and global factors thatsuggest failure is inevitable. Young people with alethal cocktail of pessimistic explanations ofprogress, fixed ability ideas, a strong performanceattitude to achievement and low competencybeliefs are especially vulnerable to a spiral offailure avoidance.

(McLean, 2003)

The mindset theory has relevance for how youngpeople approach and respond to flow activities. Forthose who seek challenge and new endeavours, theywill be easily drawn to flow activities which mayencourage persistence, practice and effort, leading toaccomplishments. For those who fear failure as apersonal slight on their person, flow activities areassociated with a hazard of ‘being exposed’ or ‘notbeing good enough’. So building a growth mindsetwill result in young people feeling drawn to flowactivities and the deep sense of well-being associatedwith these.

Positive emotions and negative emotions.

Specifically, they have found that it builds intoimportant resources such as wider search patterns,new ways of thinking and new actions. Positiveemotions, therefore:

• Increase productivity, motivation, engagement,persistence, creativity, memory, resilience,perception and relationships.

• Help us to remember, to learn and to communicatewith others.

• Make us more curious and interested, willing to trynew activities and develop new skills.

A particular aspect of resilience researched byFredrickson was recovery from negative emotions.She found that people who are more positive and whoexperience more positive emotions recovered morequickly from setbacks. Their blood pressure and heartrates returned to normal faster than for those withless positivity. So positive emotions helped overcomenegative ones and restored measurable factors such asheart rate to normal more quickly.

Fredrickson and Losada (2005) found a ratio ofpositive to negative emotions that is most favourablefor efficient functioning. This ‘positivity ratio’ isimportant in determining whether a person islanguishing or flourishing. The tipping point abovewhich people begin to flourish is a 3:1 ratio of positiveto negative emotions and has been named the ‘LosadaLine’. This means that we need to experience roughlythree times as much positive emotion as negativeemotion in order to flourish. Positive psychologistshave found that it is the frequency of feeling positiveemotions that is important to our well-being ratherthat their intensity.

Examples of positive emotion that we can aim topromote include joy, excitement, curiosity, pride,amusement, inspiration, contentment, elevation,vitality, gratitude, serenity, hope, awe, love. All ofthese emotions broaden our outlook. A meta-analysisof over 300 studies of positivity which collectivelytested over 275,000 people, concluded that positivityproduces success in life as much as it reflects success.Put simply, positive emotions are not simply the resultof things going well but also the cause.

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Positive emotions and physical well-being.

Our emotions are connected to our thoughts,behaviours and our physiology. It is no surprise that alarge amount of research links good diet, sleep andexercise to well-being.

In his review of research between mood and physicalexercise, Argyle (2001) found the benefits of regularexercise were many: lower stress, less tension, lesstiredness, lower feelings of anger and depression,increased vigour, higher self esteem, more positivebody image and increased reports of positive moods.

This is one of many studies and the data is so strongin the case of exercise and physical and emotionalwell-being that the conclusion is unavoidable.

Savouring.

Savouring has a past, present and future component.The past can be savoured by thinking about all thegood things that have already happened in life. Forinstance, early childhood, past pets, great holidays, funtimes spent with grandparents; good friends atprimary school.

The present can be savoured by truly living in it -eating food slowly and with relish, becomingimmersed in a book or a movie, truly listening to afriend, getting involved in a project, basking in afriend's accomplishments. The future can be savouredby anticipating future events and getting excitedabout them. This anticipation is most positive when itinvolves optimistic thinking – thinking and expectingthe best of a future event. Building balance betweenpast, present and future means we avoid being stuckin one state (e.g. the past), leading to unhelpfulthoughts and behaviours.

Accomplishment requires three distinct strands ofpositive psychology to interact to build flourishingbehaviours and attitudes:

1. Goals

2. Mindsets

3. Hope

Goals.

Goals which are challenging but achievable and whichalso serve a wider purpose to the benefit of others,can add to a sense of life satisfaction, a positive frameof mind, perseverance and resilience (Emmons, 2003;Sheldon et al, 2002). Traditional approaches to goalsetting often emphasise a person’s weaknesses, needsand problems. In this positive psychology approach,greater attention is given to clarifying goals andworking towards an accomplishment agenda. Workerscan build this approach into their programmesthrough collaborating with the young person tohighlight goals and aspirations and to utilise individualstrengths and resources in moving towardsachievement. The worker must have a strongunderstanding of whether the nature of the goal ishealthy or toxic by considering the followingcharacteristics of the goal:

Intrinsic vs extrinsic goals.

Working towards goals that are personally involvingand rewarding to you is more likely to lead towardswell-being than working towards goals that are notfreely chosen. Where goals are extrinsic, i.e. fame,power, feeling good, money, this can be toxic for well-being. It is much better to have intrinsic goals, e.g. todevelop better as a person, to contribute to thegroup/community/ society etc.

Approach vs avoidant goals.

Does the goal involve approaching a desirableoutcome (eating healthily, taking up a new hobby) asopposed to avoiding an undesirable outcome (tryingnot to feel guilty, avoiding arguing with your partner,not being overweight). A growing number of studieshave shown that people who mostly pursue avoidancegoals are less happy, more anxious, distressed andunhealthy than people who generally pursue approachgoals. Many young people focus on things they do notwant or something they want to stop - anunsatisfactory relationship, eating unhealthily. Theseare called 'avoidance' goals; they are about gettingaway from something undesirable. To begin toharness motivation, the worker needs to work withthe young person to establish an approach or'towards' goal. This is a goal which expresses what theyoung person does want and the more specific andvivid this goal can be, the more motivating it will be.

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Hope.

Hope Theory (Snyder, Rand and Sigmon, 2002) is nowseen as a vital contributor to the positive psychologycommunity. Hope refers to a person's expectationsand beliefs in a positive future or a positive outcometo some event or initiative. It also includes anexpectation that following identified pathways willlead to desired results. Hope is therefore a crucialcomponent of resilience - if a person does not believethat they will succeed through their efforts then theyare less likely to persist when faced with difficulty andmay struggle to overcome disappointment.

Hope Theory suggests that hopeful people have threekey characteristics:

1. They have desired goals, which motivate andenthuse them.

2. They can find pathways to those goals despiteobstacles in the way.

3. They have the motivation to use thosepathways.

(Snyder et al, 2002)

Through studies of ‘hopeful people’, enhanced lifeoutcomes have been recorded such as less tendencytowards depression, better health and greater sense oflife purpose.

Finding signature strengths.

Peterson and Seligman (2004) worked with their teamto develop a classification of character strengths thatexist in cultures all around the world. The processresulted in the identification of 24 character strengthswhich are routes to achieving virtues. Six virtues areoutlined by the ‘Values in Action’ classification (VIA),which have universal resonance and have moralaspects which also feature in the quest for a sense ofmeaning and purpose.

1. WISDOM - cognitive strengths that entail theacquisition and use of knowledge.

2. COURAGE - emotional strengths that involvethe exercise of will to accomplish goals in theface of opposition, external or internal.

3. HUMANITY – interpersonal strengths thatinvolve taking care of others band buildingstrong relationships.

4. JUSTICE – civic strengths that underlie healthycommunity life.

5. TEMPERANCE – strengths that protect againstexcess.

6. TRANSCENDENCE – strengths that forgeconnections to the larger universe and providemeaning.

The VIA inventory of strengths is a self-reportquestionnaire of 240 items which can be completedon-line, at www.authentichappiness.com. An individualgets immediate feedback on his or her top fivestrengths (a youth version is also available). Thediscovery of character strengths is the first stage inbuilding our signature strengths and creating a senseof purpose from using these.

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Notes

YouthAction Northern Ireland, 14 College Square North, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 6AS t: 028 9024 0551 www.youthaction.org

YouthActionNIYouthActionNI

Inland Revenue Charity NoXR44398Company Limited by Guarantee NI035317

LIFEMAPS has emerged from Right HereFermanagh (2009-2014), a partnership ofnine organisations, lead by YouthActionNorthern Ireland and funded by the PaulHamlyn Foundation and Mental HealthFoundation.

The Right Here Fermanagh partners wereAction Mental Health, ARC Healthy LivingCentre, OAK Healthy Living Centre, PublicHealth Agency, Western Education andLibrary Board, Western Health and SocialCare Trust, Youth Council for NorthernIreland and YouthAction Northern Ireland.

This publication has been funded by theYouth Council for Northern Ireland andwill be disseminated as part of YCNIOutreach Initiative 2015/16, inpartnership with The Young Farmers’ Clubsof Ulster, the Northern Ireland YouthForum, Public Achievement andYouthAction Northern Ireland.

A LIFEMAPS handbook accompanies thisreport.